Ptasie Mleczko – the marshmallow-based candy named for a delicacy just out of the ancient Greeks’ reach

2 min read

2 years ago Danilo

Delicate, soft vanilla flavoured marshmallow covered in chocolate.
Or “Ptasie Mleczko” with coconut…but still no actual bird’s milk!
Since ancient Greece, when Aristophanes debuted The Birds in 414 B.C, the phrase “the milk of the birds” has denoted several items of exceptional rarity.
However, one could only long for bird’s milk, because, as far as anyone knew, it actually didn’t exist!
Jan Wedel, owner of the E. Wedel candy company in Poland, capitalized on this concept in 1936 and, after his voyages to France was inspired to develop this soft marshmallow covered with famous dessert chocolate.
According to the company’s history, his inspiration for the name is also connected to his voyages, when he asked himself: “What could bring greater happiness to a man who already has everything?”
Then he thought: “Maybe only bird milk“.

Ptasie Mleczko, not by chance literally “bird milk”, is a chocolate candy that encloses a creamy marshmallow-meets-meringue filling.
And actually there’s nothing highly unusual about this treat, but the its name make the difference.
And, really, bird’s milk does exist.
Although it’s not technically “milk” in the sense of mammary glands, some birds, male and female, can produce hearty secretions for their babies.
Pigeons, for example feed their squabs a highly nutritious secretion called “crop milk,” which contains more protein than cow or human milk, while both Greater Flamingos and Emperor Penguins can secrete “milk” from their upper digestive tracts to feed chicks as well.
The milk is produced by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop, a thin-walled, sac-like food-storage chamber that projects outward from the bottom of the esophagus.

But if you think each bite of Ptasie Mleczko is flavored with rare pigeon secretions, don’t worry.
The name is a misnomer, both literally and figuratively and, instead of being an unobtainable delight, it is widely available and quite affordable. There’s also a popular cake inspired by the confection.
Of course, despite its a misleading name, chocolate-covered marshmallows are tastier than the real deal— unless, of course, you’re a squab.